Waar Jiwtu, Minyan Roewhud
by Hero McAllen
Summary: R due to sexual violence. The Sage of Light is slowly fading and his death is drawing near. What will happen when he has finally left them? And why can't Link protect those he loves?
1. Progression

AN: This is the 8th 'A Goddess Three' story! Huzzah! It's rated R for later chapters, which have to do with sexual violence. Waar Jiwtu, Minyan Roewhud translates out into 'Good Night, My Daughter' in the Gerudo language I use, just in case anyone needs some clarification :) A large plot thingy will happen in this one and this story is one of my favorites. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW!!! Okay, I'm done. Waar Jiwtu, Minyan Roewhud 

_              Good Night, My Daughter_

_Eight months, twenty-three days_

Chapter One: Progression

   The politics surrounding all of this were catastrophic. Things will change, things can't stay the same, what will happen if we do, what will happen if we don't? It was a long, long process to get through for many people were afraid of the drastic change in life that were to happen if they were to reveal their valley home, they never knew anything else, why shouldn't they be? But like Pamiea said, they could not hide forever, and almost forty years were plenty in Megeara's eyes. 

And so began, the course that would lead down the path to fully integrate Murieope into the rest of Hyrule. King Harkinian met with Pamiea and the other village Elders to work out the fine details and Megeara could sense the tension hanging in the air like a thick fog. She longed for change though. As she took a good long look around the valley, her eyes stopping to rest on the few construction crews working on the tunnel and knew that no matter what this foundation with Hyrule brought, this would always be her home. The sun was setting and with a sigh Megeara turned and followed the street back to her house skimming in and out of the evening shadows. 

She walked differently now that she had had her Passage on the Ground. It was stronger, more graceful, lighter. Strangely, only a handful of two or three other girls from the village wished to pursue the Ground as well, Megeara thought it a shame. 

As she reached her front door she noticed a small group of Royal Officials standing at the far end of the street talking to Jefftren and Mattue and a few others, apparently on something to do with the tunnel for she saw them pointing. Megeara turned, went inside, and tried not to think about it for a few moments; it was a bit overwhelming for her. Pattian, her mother, was cooking at the hearth and her father and Jahzun were nowhere to be seen. Oh well. Megeara kissed her mother on the cheek and hopped up the stairs to her room. On the chair next to her bed were the cloths she had picked out for the Fall Bazaar next week. Similar in idea to their own Harvest Festival, but at Lake Hylia where king Harkinian had graciously invited them, the entire village. It would be fun, a change of scenery, new people, and new places. The Gerudo would be there as well and Megeara looked forward to another meeting with her distant sisters. As much as she was surprised to say, things couldn't be going smoother. Not a likely scenario considering everything.


	2. The Dying of Light

Chapter Two: The Dying of Light

                                There was something heavy hanging in the air that felt cold and heavy. Zelda shivered as she hurried down the hall to the East Wing hugging her arms for warmth. What was it? What was the Sacred Realm trying to tell her? Her pace quickened and she burst through the ancient oak doors, actually only the physical manifestation of what she interpreted the Sacred Realm as and into the warmth of the fire burning there and the strange chills subsided. Everyone was there and waiting for her.  Impa, her life long friend, caretaker, and the closest thing to a mother Zelda had ever known, stood up when she came in and smiled almost in a non-emotional way, but Zelda knew better than to think there was no feeling behind that smile.

                "Princess, we have been wondering where you have been," Impa said in her usual deep, calming voice and added, "I was getting concerned for you." Zelda only smiled in return and went to the reason they were all gathered there; she went to Rauru.

                                His face was paler than she had ever seen it, and though a big man, he seemed small and shrunken on the bed where he lay. His hand lay limply by his side and Zelda picked it up to hold and was alarmed to feel how cold it was in her warmth. _No Rauru, don't leave us, we need you…We need your guidance, your wisdom to lead us… Zelda stroked her slim fingers over the white, old knuckles of Rauru's hand until his eyelids flitted open once again to reveal the dull and placid eyes staring at her and the other Sages. The sight jerked at her heart as she felt the tears want to swell up into her eyes, but she pushed them back knowing that this was neither the time nor the place to shed them. Saria joined Zelda at Rauru's bedside and only looked at her forlornly, knowing already what Zelda knew. __It will not be long. Darunia, Ruto and Impa would stay a ways off for now, this was after all a time not one of them had wished to see for some time. Nabooru kept her distance though and leaned up against the far wall and had not come close to the bed since she had gotten there. Ruto was unable to control herself for a brief moment and let out a stifled sob which after she didn't try to hide the tears; she was not one to hide such things. Rauru blinked, then smiled a very tired, weary smile._

                "I'm old," he said, "I'm so old that I do not care to remember anymore how old I am. Do not worry for me, we all knew this day would come, as it does to all life, Sage or not." His voice had gotten progressively weaker the past month, or whatever kind of time period one experiences in a realm with no real 'time' so to speak. 

                "No Rauru, that's not true, you just aren't well right not, you'll feel better soon and---" Saria trailed off as Zelda touched her hand lightly and nodded.

                "We know it won't be long from now Rauru, but you're leaving us so quickly it's hard to accept." Tears were harder to urge back now, but somehow Zelda managed to contain herself even in front of the sad image of one of her mentors and good friends lying on his deathbed. Her hand closed on his again as Impa came from behind and clasped her shoulder. Zelda could feel the energy of Impa flowing gently into her as she had gotten used to since their coming to the Sacred Realm all that time ago. It was warm, caring…familiarity was what she liked the best though. 

                "Rauru, come, tell us why you have brought us here," Impa spoke in a grave tone that could only belong to her and paused after to wait for a response. They all did, but the old sage took his time, pawed slowly at the covers around him and sat up with a bit of difficulty. He made the move to throw the covers off and get up and immediately Zelda was at his side with her arms extended to help him.

                "Ah, off with ye!" Rauru's voice was hoarse and heavy with his short struggle to throw his legs over the edge of the bed, but he did it nonetheless with no help. He was not so far gone yet to swallow his dignity and accept help. "Thank you Princess, but I can manage." Once Zelda had backed away a few steps, Rauru placed hands on bed and forced himself to stand. The bed did not creak though for it did not exist in a physical sense, something it would take Zelda quite some time yet to get used too. On the chair next to his bedside he took the deep orange robe sitting there and slipped it on. He was not going to face them without his self-respect and certainly not in his nightgown. Slowly he shuffled over to his great desk with its high backed chair, only having to take a few paces between the bed and desk without something to hold onto for support. Rauru sat down and picked up the spectacles there putting them on facing the rest of them with a very serious gaze. Zelda's apprehension grew more and more until she could barely stand Rauru's silence any longer. 

                "I'm dying," he said bluntly and rather brusquely, "as if it were not apparent already. I asked you all hear to talk of what is to happen after I am gone, what will happen to the Sacred Realm, Hyrule, and what will happen to all of you." There was a long pause for a few moments after and Nabooru still paced along the outside of the room. Darunia, his awkward, big bulk tottered across the floor to the front of Rauru's desk and opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't find anything to say. Rauru smiled at this, his sallow cheeks filling with a bit of color, and sat up straighter in his chair. "Do not fret Darunia, I am not gone yet. Now, let us try to get through this clear and simple hmm? Come everyone sit down." And with that he beckoned with his hands toward the chairs that appeared out of thin air. 

                "Will Zelda become the new Sage of Light?" Ruto asked quietly, eyes still pink and glassy from her weeping. Everyone turned to Rauru for the answer, but Rauru only frowned at Ruto's tear-slick cheeks as she sat down.

                "Oh come now Ruto," he grunted, "I will have none of that. You all knew I would not be around forever. I want no tears over this."

                "But it's just so soon Rauru," Zelda sighed, "you've always been the one to guide us, who knew what he was doing…It's barely been three years."

                "But Sages you all are, and Sages you all were many, many times before that. We've known each other in dozens of lifetimes and in fact, I've known you twice in this one. All _you need to know is within you already and the Sacred Realm is not only a holy place, but a complex tool in which you will learn once again to use and master as the Guardians of Hyrule." Zelda knit her eyebrows together in puzzlement. _

                "Those were other lives Rauru," Saria chimed in and Rauru cleared his throat, adjusted the spectacles, and folded his hands on the desk.

                "But lives your soul knows very well. You will learn in time that there is very little difference between past life and present and it is in utilizing both past and present that you will become competent masters and protectors of this realm," he answered. Nabooru, who had been silent this whole time, stopped her pacing and shouldered her way in between Impa and Ruto with irritation in her eyes and movements. The entire subject rubbed her the wrong way and she wanted to get off of it as soon as possible. She was a hardened Gerudo warrior, and not only that, but the leader of the Gerudo Nation as well, emotional situations were to be avoided as far as she was concerned and here they all were making a huge mess of things. Nabooru would not bring her walls down now. 

                "Why don't you just tell us what this whole damn thing is about Rauru! You're not getting any younger and neither are we!" She yelled and tensed her muscles tight. Rauru knew how she felt; he could sense it easily enough so he only smirked at her. He had always enjoyed Nabooru's spirit, not to pun himself in anyway.

                "Very well Nabooru, let us get right to the point, no use in dawdling around." Ruto glared at Nabooru and Nabooru glared back. Two very different people they would always be. Rauru leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath and it was one of those moments when Zelda could truly see how old he was. 

                "Now," he continued, "after my death, the soul within me, the Sage of Light, will be reborn again like it has always happened, so no, to answer your question, Zelda will not become the new Sage of Light after me. She was born to be the Seventh Sage. It will be your responsibility to seek out and awaken the person who is reborn with the soul. I---"

                "Rauru, how old _are you?" Zelda spoke up with the up most seriousness and met him eye to eye. A deep chuckle sounded in the old Sage's throat as he smoothed out a wrinkle in his ancient orange robe._

                "I," he began, "am old enough, past my time you could say. Oh, I should have been gone long ago, but my work was not done until now." Rauru sniffed and kept Zelda's serious stare.

                "Rauru," she warned in a lowered tone. Rauru chuckled again and sighed.

                "I am two hundred and eight." With that Saria gasped and Nabooru fought to contain a laugh. Zelda only stared at him in amazement.

                "Two…two hundred?" Zelda stuttered.

                "And eight."

                "How---Some Gorons live to be almost two hundred…but you are Hylian, how is that Rauru?" Darunia thought the idea almost impossible. 

                "As I said, my job was not done, I could not stop until I had found all of you." Still the puzzled faces did not disappear. Zelda opened her mouth to speak but he interrupted her. "Wait," he commanded, "now is not the time, we must finish here what I called you for. I am getting short of breath in my old age." Zelda closed her mouth and nodded.

                "You are right Rauru, please, continue."

                                He took a deep breath and took a sip of water from the glass that had appeared in front of him magically. _They are young and resourceful and I have known them many times and known them well…there is no need to worry about them…I will see them again soon._

                "After I am gone," Rauru continued, "I will be reborn and when the time comes you will find me again. I will have no recollection of this life…well, it will be just as with you. Remember when you were first awakened…hmm," he took another sip of water and Zelda watched him very closely. An image flashed in her head of a young Hylian man with blond hair and a tall build in the same robe Rauru wore now. Beside him there was another man with darker brown hair…she knew this was a past life of their own when she knew him as Ganson and she as Connor. The sudden flash of being in a man's brain was surreal and Zelda tried to snap back into attention and listen to what Ganson---she meant Rauru, was saying.

                "I remember Jusson explaining this very same thing to me," Rauru smiled, "you Nabooru." Nabooru snorted.

                "I was a man?! How---," she began, but thought better of it, "never mind. Is that all Rauru?" She folded her very tan arms and flipped her red hair off of her shoulders. Rauru nodded and dismissed them with a tired hand.

                "Yes, that is all for now, I am tired and would like to rest. Thank you for coming." 

                                They all left and went their separate ways down the illusion corridors of the Temple of Light. Only Saria and Zelda stayed together and walked and talked a ways. Zelda paused in front of the Great Library where she was to stop and turned to Saria.

                "I do not imagine Rauru has much longer," she said in a quiet, gentle voice. "But we will see him again someday, won't we?" That was the only thing keeping Zelda from weeping that very moment. Saria, her young, beautiful face beaming returned:

                "Yes we will, someday...But for right now he's still here with us." 


	3. Mongrels

Chapter Three: Mongrels

                                Music blared and people from all over Hyrule came to see the spectacle and eat and drink to their hearts content. And drinking would be abundant. Gathered on the shores of the great lake of Hyrule, Lake Hylia, formed within the walls of a flooded canyon, were the usual Market shop owners who had set up their booths full of the new products they had to sell as part of the tradition of the Fall Bazaar. This was more of a Hylian event really, but none of the other races in Hyrule had ever been excluded because of it since the end of the Civil War. The Gerudo chose not to attend in large groups by their own choice. 

                                Link, on the other hand was going, but chose to be fashionably belated. Truth was he slept in late. There was something about sleeping under the stars of the Field that made him sleep hard as a rock…or on one.  The Bazaar had been going on for a day already before Link got there and the King had begun to wonder where he had gone off too. 

                                Even people from the different countries that closely bordered Hyrule came to the Bazaar, which brought in all sorts of new items for the people to browse. Link wasn't particularly interested in shopping though, never had been. No, Link looked forward to the Fall Bazaar for time he could spent with the few close friends he had managed to make over his time-jaded lifetime and to eat. Never had been a drinker. 

Link led Epona along through the throngs of people and tied her to the hitching post by the Lakeside Lab, which she greatly disliked. Navi had already flew away from him and found Malon and Talon by the pottery shop and were chatting lightly when Link walked up. He gave Malon a quick, absentminded peck on the cheek before Talon swept him up with some sort of news about the Ranch or another subject before Link could get away. Link wondered if Loraefin and the others had gotten there yet. 

                                It was a very warm day and Megeara looked forward to stripping down to her swimsuit and diving into the cold, clear water of the lake. In fact she had been dying to go all day and grew even more envious of the people who were in there already. It seemed like shopping with Lola, Mariva, and Staceana could take forever and forever was keeping her and the water from one another. Megeara knew now she was a fool to willingly walk into Lolita's trap of 'just a quick look around' instead of staying with Loraefin, Joshuan, Take and Berg. Even the afternoon with Zannon would be bearable compared to this. There was a break in the crowd just long enough for Megeara to get a glance of Joshuan's tuft sand colored hair and Berg's dark reddish brown bouncing along and made a run for it just as Lolita was commenting on yet another scrap of cloth. With one dodge she rushed straight into Berg's unsuspecting arms with a sigh of relief. 

                "Don't ever, _ever_ let me do that again," she panted, arms still wrapped around his neck. Berg made as if to speak but only shot Joshuan a sidelong glance of amusement and patted Megeara's back as she laughed. Loraefin appeared next to her brother silently and put an arm around his waist and he her shoulders in his brotherly way. She may have been two years his senior, but Joshuan was a good head taller than her. Loraefin smirked and could guess the reason for Megeara's hasty flight. _I told you, was what the grin said to her friend. _

                "Had enough of shopping?" Loraefin laughed in Gerudo as Megeara untwined herself from Berg. 

                "Lolita and Staceana are crazed," Megeara replied, rolling the soft Gerudo syllables off her tongue like water. "Aye, go off with those two and you're lively never to come back." Megeara ran a look over her friend. Loraefin's brown hair was brushed and smoothed with small braids of woven ribbon accented around her face. The ribbon was burgundy just like the simple, feminine tunica she wore fastened around the waist with a band of the same material. The sleeves were long and the skirt cut at mid calf so you could still see the ankle high leather boots Megeara admired very much.

                        "You look good Fin," she grinned and squinted in the sun that was beating her face. "It's a good color on you."

                                "I thought so," Loraefin said and smoothed the creases along the hemline. "Has anyone seen Link yet? I've yet to run into him and I didn't see him with the king's party." The others shook their heads.

                "No, but there are a lot of people here Fin, I wouldn't be surprised that our paths haven't crossed yet," Joshuan shrugged his shoulders. 

                "Shouldn't be too hard to find, just look for the only fairy and a line of swooning women."

                                The crowd swirled around them in either direction, leaving them like an island in the middle of a river. As the crowd moved there were flashes of detest in passing faces, low grumbles and whispers, all aimed in their direction. These were not the first people to do so, in fact it had been happening all day. People looked upon them with either curiosity or disgust. Young children wound bound up, chattering with tons of questions like, 'so your grandmas are the scary ladies huh?' or 'do you like having that big nose?' Some questions had to be answered with laugh, others shrugged off or walked away from. 

There were some that saw them for no more than what they were, people, and did not give them a second glance when they walked by. One woman had the audacity to spit on Loraefin's shoes as she scurried past, passing an ill-tempered glance over her shoulder with a sneer. Take and Lycus nearly took off after her, but Loraefin wiped her boot clean on the grass and begged them not to. And they were not the only ones who experienced such things; every other person from the village would have a story by the end of the day.  

                                They sat under the shade of a tree at high noon when the sun was supreme and at its hottest. No one else sat with them; nobody dared to sit with the mutts birthed by Gerudo savages. There was another group of young men and women their own age down by the water's edge swimming and laughing in the lapping, sparkling waters of the lake. The air was humid and the wind had died down since the hour before, making the cool, crisp waters that much more beckoning. Loraefin shifted in Take's lap as she raised her arm to wipe the sweat from her brow. Take grabbed her arm and wiped his forehead on her sleeve as well. She didn't do anything about it though; it was too hot to do anything about it. 

                "Oh come on," Take grabbed Loraefin's hands and pulled her to her feet, causing her to jerk upward with a stifled gasp.

                "What are you doing?" She would have looked startled if the heat had not made all her features go soft. Indeed she was almost completely limp with only enough steadiness to keep her standing. Take nodded to Berg and Joshuan who got up themselves, Berg pulling Megeara to her feet and Joshuan stretching his arms behind him with faint gleams in their eyes. 

                "Up we go Fin!" Take laughed and bent down and hoisted the young woman up and over his broad, masculine shoulder. Loraefin protested briefly but she knew an attack by Take was futile to get out of. The next thing she knew she and Megeara were being carried away down to the water's edge slung across the shoulders' of two strapping young men with a younger one in their wake.

                "Hey, wait!" Megeara laughed as Berg reached the dock first and threw her head over heels into the cool water and dove in after her. Loraefin was deposited with more or less with care into the water as well followed by both Take and Joshuan. She surfaced with a sharp gasp as the clear water swirled around her, as did the skirt of her dress, a torso floating in a mass of crimson. Loraefin did her best to keep herself covered when the fabric would drift up to far on one side or the other. 

Megeara and she swam over to Berg and dunked him underneath the water, ruffling his hair before they were shoved under as well by Take and Joshuan. The water felt so good on the skin it could not be believed and it sent a cool wave up and down Loraefin's spine. It was only a few moments more before others joined them: Lycus, Mayin, Mariva, Witt, and Zannon, all diving into the water. They were quite a spectacle, the ten of them, flashes of tan bodies among the white froth, the Gerudo red hair glinting in the sunlight, and all of the noise their shouting and laughing could produce. Some people watched from the shore and a few of the boys from the group of young men and women they had seen before glared at them.

                "You! Mongrels!" One of them cried out at them. Loraefin turned sharply, still treading water. "What do you think you're doing? Get out of our water you filthy bastards!" One of the young women pleaded with him to stop but he threw her off and he and his friends came tromping down the shore. Take and Lycus nodded to one another and swam to shore to meet them.

                "Where are you going guys?" Loraefin's voice was hoarse from yelling as she began to swim after them.

                "No Fin, stay here," Take turned around and his voice made her stop in her tracks. "Let us deal with this." They swam to shore with Witt, Berg, Joshuan and Zannon in their wake, leaving the four girls in the empty water by themselves. Their men reached the shallows and stood, the sun glinting brilliantly on the wide birth of their shoulders and the muscle. The men on the shore seemed to withdraw for a moment, taken aback by the shear size of their opponents. Gerudo blood was good for warrior physique. 

Loraefin couldn't hear what was being said, but she could see that it was nothing friendly. She was not about to stay behind like some helpless woman while the men took care of this and she took off toward the beach. As she got closer she could make out the slanderous remarks that slapped her in the face. Indeed she had heard low mumbling all day but never anything right out in the open. When she reached the shallows no one seemed to notice her and she took her place next to her brother. He turned halfway around regarding that she was there. _Oh well, can't do anything about it now._

"What's your problem?" Take said in a low, husky voice, one that Loraefin had only heard him use in times of extreme seriousness, "we're sorry you're not happy about us being here, but it's not our problem. Now why don't you leave us be before you regret it."

                "Fuck you!" Retorted one of his companions. "Why don't you go back to your own kind!"

                "Oh, that was a good one," Joshuan snickered from behind Lycus's back. The man's eyes and nostrils flared.

                "What was that Gerudo?" He snapped and startled Joshuan who did not expect him to hear his comment.

                "Nothing," he tried to smile as the man stared him down. Joshuan was not naturally aggressive, but nor was he prone to let anyone push him around. The young man took a step forward and quick as lightning shoved Joshuan backward into the water. He went crashing into Loraefin who went toppling down with him with a loud splash. Just as quick as the man attacked Lycus and Take were on top of him pounding with fists. Soon it was a gigantic mass of bodies, pulling, punching, kicking, and yelling, scrambling in the water's edge, gargling, coughing, and one body indistinguishable to the next. Joshuan ripped away from Loraefin and dove into the fight. 

Loraefin didn't know what to do as she watched her family beating and being beaten right before her eyes and her only reaction was to stop it. Struggling in her sopping wet dress she grabbed the nearest body to her and tore it away from the others. The young man wheeled around in surprise at the girl's strength as she dove in and grabbed another. Before she knew it she was knee deep in fighting men, shouting and cursing at them just as they had been doing each other. Someone's arm flew out and struck Loraefin across the face that left her dazed and her cheek sorely stinging. 

A voice called from in the crowd on the grass and soon a new body threw itself into the middle of the fight, tearing and throwing back the participants with great force. That someone gripped her shoulders fiercely as if to throw her away too, but one of the opposing young men lunged at him and with one quick, agile movement the stranger sent him flying over his shoulder. Loraefin lost her balance in the water as her foot slipped on a loose river stone and she fell forward hard against the man's chest. Two quick hands shot out to steady her and she looked up to meet a pair of brilliant blue eyes and the wild, straw colored hair she knew so well.

                "What's going on here Fin?" Link asked sharply, water dripping from the slant of his heavy brows to the tip of his ski-sloped nose. Loraefin couldn't answer him right away for her mind was still reeling.

                "Nothing, nothing, just uh…" she trailed off as she saw the change of expression in Link's face. Carefully he ran a callused palm over her swollen cheek in inspection, holding her still when she tried to back away. His simper was fighting between worry and amusement and the edges of his mouth twitched with a smile. The girl he had gotten to know so well was drenched from head to toe before him, hair askew, water dripping from elbows and nose and hair, eyes wild, and a very unbecoming red welt forming on her right cheek. The men from the fight started to get up slowly, their energy drained from all of the blows and struggles they had endured. When the young Hylian men saw Link, the Hero of Time standing there they quickly fled away into the crowd and disappeared.

                "Joshuan, Berg, what happened here?" Link swooped Loraefin, who was having a hard time walking in her sopping wet dress, up into his arms effortlessly and carried her to shore, depositing her on the sunny bank.

                "It was just a misunderstanding," Joshuan wiped the bit of blood from the corner of his mouth away with his hand, "we're not very well liked here."

                "So I've noticed," Link glanced around at the dissipating crowd and noticed the hard looks over the shoulders in their direction. Two older men, unshaven and rough looking, caught Link's eye as he saw them staring with what could be described as a hungry look on their faces. Link hadn't seen them before but maybe now that the people saw the Hero of Time with them they would leave them alone. Loraefin sunk to her knees and sat on the dry grass with head cradled in arms. Lycus brushed past Link and knelt in front her where she looked up and saw the black eye forming and the split lip red with fresh blood. 

                "_Aemt," Loraefin mumbled, dabbing her thumb once lightly on the part of his lip where there was no blood._

                "_Aemt il diwth," he sucked in his breath when even her soft touch sent his lip throbbing. Link helped Megeara and the others out of the water while Loraefin regained her senses and stood up. They left the shore to the cover of a vacant grove of trees a bit away where they sat again, speechless._

                "I don't think those guys will bother you again, looks like you kicked the crap out of them," Link smiled and looked over his shoulder back down the lakeshore. "I'm guessing it wasn't just a friendly scuffle?"

                "More like unwarranted abuse," Joshuan sighed and sat down in between his sister and Take, "damned jackasses, all of them." Link's frown deepened, as did the uncharacteristic lines of worry across his brow. Loraefin often thought it such a shame for a man that young to have lines of the sort. He looked from Loraefin to Joshuan, and then to the others, seeing the hidden look of hurt and anger there.

                "I'm sorry," he said simply, not knowing that much more he could do. He kicked himself for not being there sooner, to maybe stop all of that before it happened, but he knew even as the Hero of Time he was no match against the ugliness of racism. "People act stupidly sometimes. It will pass soon."

                "Let's hope so."


	4. A Gift For Malon

Chapter Four: A Gift For Malon

                                                Malon knew Rook was here somewhere, she had seen his mother. She wondered why it was taking so long for her to find one tall, rowdy, accent-speaking _loud young man in with the other people. He didn't exactly blend into the crowd like the others. Malon was irritated enough at herself for even wanting to look for him in the first place, but yet somehow that was the only thing she found herself doing. The day had started to cool down in the later afternoon and Malon could smell the logs of the bonfires being lit and burned all around the camp areas. As she walked Malon could not keep her feet from dancing a bit with the rhythm of the music. It was not often that she was able to hear music other than when she or her father would sing, or when Link played his ocarina for her. Rook would sing too, a loud, deep, rich voice that was not perfectly trained, but he could carry a tune when he chose too. Malon figured he got a good use out of it when he and his mates got into a round of drinking songs. She didn't like it when he drank. _

                                "Malon!" She heard her name being called over the musical whistles of the Patoo flutes and she spun around to find that Rook was the one that had found her. He was wearing what he always did, brown slacks, dirty work shirt from the stables that smelled heavily of fresh hay, and a tattered brown jerkin made out of some sort of animal over that. Even with his rag-tag appearance though, he was a very attractive man, strong jaw line, dark eyes and hair, a sloping brow, and large, broad shoulders and neck. As he neared he swept her up and off her feet, spinning her around before setting her down again. "Aye Malon! How are ye my Firefly?" He laughed as Malon tried to struggle out of his grasp, but she was a tiny woman and he much larger than she. 

                                "Ah! Rook, let me go!" She couldn't help laughing herself. "You're all sweaty! Let go!" Rook pulled her close and made sure to wrap his arms more tightly about her shoulders so she could get a good scent of his underarms. After he released her and she jumped back, red hair all in a tangle. "What did you do that for!?" She yelled, trying to bring her locks back to some sort of semblance.

                                "Just markin' me territory Firefly," he grinned and put a finger under her soft chin, "just markin' me territory." Malon was in a fluster in no time, as he knew she would be.

                                "What do you mean 'marking your territory? I am not yours!" She pointed a finger accusingly at him but he was still grinning. He threw his head back to laugh, a deep, good-natured laugh.

                                "Aye, but ye will be Malon! Make no mistake, I'll have ye when it suits me." He watched her fists clench, but he knew she wouldn't hit him, she had the guts and mind to, but she wouldn't.

                                "You're a jackass," she huffed and started to turn away, but Rook came up beside her and linked them arm in arm.

                                "Indeed I am Malon, indeed I am," he grinned again and began to walk arm in arm with her. She didn't resist. "But then ye've always thought of me tha' way so I'm no more wors' off than before eh?"

                                "I suppose not," she grumbled, "but you're still a jackass, and a thickheaded one at that."

                                                Arm in arm they walked along the shop stalls looking at this and that. Malon loved to fanaticize that she had these things; scarves, a nice bag to keep her things in, but the one that caught her eye the most was a beautiful wooden hair clasp rimmed in a bronze casing. It was magnificent with the carved branches of a Dagon tree etched into the deep red colored wood. A small white bird delicately painted perched at the top of the tree. But she couldn't afford it, so with one, long, drawn out sigh, she put it back and forced herself to walk away.

                                "Why didna' you get it Malon?" Rook looked back at the table where Malon had just left the trinket. "Ye wanted it, did ye not?"

                                "It was beautiful, but I can't afford that, we need that money for food for us and the horses. They come first." She sighed again and let her shoulders droop. Rook stopped.

                                "Is there eva' a time when Malon comes first?" His eyes were solemn and dark hidden beneath his brown hair.

                                "There is when there can be," she replied breezily and put a hand on her hip.

                                "And how long has it been?" He kept staring at her with those dark eyes of his that made her slow to respond. In fact, she didn't respond at all and turned to keep walking. Rook watched her for a moment before running after her, wondering just how long it really had been. A month? A year? Ever? Had Malon, his wonderful, sweet Malon ever done anything for herself? The thought made him angry that no one had ever tried to pamper her before for she rightly deserved it. He made the decision then and there that before this day was through he would go back and buy that hair clasp for her using the money he had saved over the last few months. He was not the kind of man who believed in sacrificing the things you wanted in life, and what he wanted was to see his Malon's face light up when he presented his gift to her. They rode out in the late afternoon with the clasp safely and secretly wrapped in Rook's pocket.


	5. Discussing Past and Pedigree

Chapter Five: Discussing Past and Pedigree

                                    Zelda sat in the large, high-backed chair by the window in the library pouring over the ancient texts of Sages past. It was eerie reading something that you had written in a different life centuries ago and somehow remembered writing it. Farron, Mage, G'nada, Connor…she had been all of them. Zelda flipped page after page of notes written by Connor, the one before her to bare the name of the Seventh Sage and whose memories were the easiest to summon. He had been an interesting man with quite a sense of humor, constantly teasing Krena, the Sage of Fire, in his writings. Zelda flipped the pages shut and stared into the fire, letting her mind wander. Nabooru at that time was crossing through the library on her way to her room, but she stopped to see what Zelda was so intently staring at. The fire flickered in the hearth and even Nabooru felt its hypnotizing powers.

                        "What are you reading?" Nabooru asked finally, realizing Zelda was not going to break out of her reverie otherwise. Zelda looked up suddenly, startled.

                        "Oh, nothing really, just some old notes," she yawned as Nabooru took a seat on the arm of the great chair with arms folded across her chest.

                        "Hmm," she mumbled and brushed the long, brilliantly red hair off of her shoulders with a careless hand. Zelda shivered when an unsettling wave seemed to sweep over her again. "You cold even by the fire? It's because you're so skinny, you have no meat on your bones to keep you warm." Nabooru cracked a laugh and stood up stretching with the firelight playing off of her curves.  

                        "No, it's not that, I've been feeling it for the last few days. Don't you feel it? It's cold, unsettling," she looked up at Nabooru who cocked a brow and looked at her as though she was crazy.

                        "No, wish I did though, nothing happens here and I'm dying for something to do! I thought maybe when that girl Link brought around came something would happen, but maybe she was nothing after all like we thought. She had spunk though. Tiamra told me she completed the Ground in one piece, that was a surprise." Nabooru smirked and continued, "I also have heard that our young hansom hero has gotten to be pretty good friends with the girl, I'd be wary of her if I were you Princess, she may be trying to take your man."

                        "Don't be silly Nabooru! Link and I do not belong to each other!" Zelda blushed furiously though she knew it to be very true. Nabooru laughed at her and smiled a mischievous grin.

                        "You mean that after he saved you no kiss? Nothing? You're father didn't arrange a marriage or something? Isn't the princess supposed to marry her hero?" Nabooru was still laughing.

                        "That's so old fashioned Nabooru! My father would never marry me against my will!" _Especially when her heart belonged to someone else._

                        "How would marrying Link be against your will? Wouldn't be against mine, I've seen his hands," and with this Nabooru picked up a book off the shelf and idly thumbs through it.

                        "Nabooru!" Zelda scolds, taken aback at her crude discussion, "I can't believe you just said that!"

                        "What? Link's a man, don't tell me you don't know how all men pride themselves on the size of their package? He probably has a lot to brag about."

                        "Nabooru!"

                                    Nabooru knew when it was time to stop. Poor Zelda was trying to keep her royal demeanor composed and was having a good run in doing so. Slowly she watched Zelda relax and change the subject.

                          "Loraefin was a nice young woman, but I think Link was wrong, I couldn't feel anything about her," she watched as the Gerudo woman nodded in agreement. "I admit her," Zelda paused to try and find the right words, "breeding was different, but other than that." 

                        "Breeding indeed," Nabooru scoffed then paused to reflect, "as much as I disliked that…whole…issue…it will be rather interesting to see how they will make their way in Hyrule now. Rumor has it it's not going well."

                        "I know, my father has mentioned it. It's such a shame," Zelda brought her feet up and tucked them underneath her dress to warm her feet. "Why can't people just be accepting?"

                        "Because they are different. Not only that, but they defy centuries of culture and traditions. I'm not surprised at the way they are being received," Nabooru stated matter-of-factly. "Mixing Gerudo and Hylian just doesn't work, because they have Gerudo blood, they will always be branded so and you know how the Gerudo are seen as." There was a bit of resentment in Nabooru's voice and Zelda could feel her emotions bubbling. The Gerudo were seen as thieves, she knew, and she knew how the Hylians treated them. They were the women who came in the middle of the night and made lovers out of sons and husbands only to steal away again at dawn with a child in their womb. And with the coming of Ganondorf, they were pushed even farther away. As a princess, Zelda was greatly disturbed by her peoples' ignorance on the subject. Surly they were educated enough to know how silly it was to dwell on one's race? But Nabooru was right; both races took traditions very seriously, as much as she did not agree with it, Zelda understood how the people in Hyrule reacted toward the people of the newly named Eidua Valley. Zelda thought it best to change the subject again.

                        "I worry for Rauru," Zelda sighed and again stared into the fire, "he has gotten so weak, he may have only several months left before we lose him."

                        "But then he comes back so why worry?" Nabooru of course felt differently, she was worried too, but would never admit it out loud. Zelda could feel her emotions though as if Nabooru was nothing more than air.

                        "We're stronger as a whole Nabooru, with one missing who knows how much more vulnerable we will be," Zelda said.

                        "Vulnerable to what? That chill you get? I think you must be imagining it."

                        "Perhaps, but still, I don't like the thought of losing one of our own."

                                    Nabooru took her leave and continued on to her bedchamber like before, leaving Zelda to sit and ponder. When Rauru did leave them, who would assume leadership? Would it be necessary for them to continue to stay in the Sacred Realm or would they be free to all return home? Deep down Zelda knew that it would be she who would bear the weight of leadership in time and she wondered it she was ready for it. After all, she had been the Seventh Sage for generations, but had she learned all she needed to know in this one?

AN: Like I'm always saying, please review! I'll love you forever!


	6. A Pretty Thing Like You

Chapter Six:  A Pretty Thing Like You

                                                The day was ending and so was the second day of the Fall Bazaar. As part of tradition three huge fires were lit each to honor one of the Great Goddesses, Nayru, Farore, and Din, who created Hyrule. There would be light dancing and singing, with a few special performances put on by adult groups as well as children. The whole thing was rather boring to Link, who had spent his day out of the eye of the public for once and with some very good friends of his. Hanging out with Loraefin and the rest was one of the scarce moments when Link felt like he could act like himself and not like the great Hero everyone made him out to be. He was just a man; some people seemed to forget that. Though, as the local hero he knew it was his duty to be present for at least _some of the ceremony, King Harkinian would demand it. As for the moment Link sat quite comfortably against a tree with only Loraefin in the tree above him, and Navi perched happily on the edge of his boot. The others had left already to go and eat, leaving Link alone with Loraefin for the first time in a long while. They had talked about nothing in particular and not noticed the long shadows on the ground until they almost covered the tree they sat under in darkness. Link looked up and could make out Loraefin's darkened figure swinging her leg indolently from one of the branches but he couldn't make out her face. _

                                "So you used to chase cuccoos just to get them angry? What kind of strange child were you?" Loraefin laughed and scraped her nails absentmindedly against the bark of the Oal tree. 

                                "You mean what kind of strange person is he now," Navi chimed in.

                                "I don't know, it was something to do I guess," Link replied and swung at her foot which was dangling rather close to his head. Loraefin made an agreeing noise and watched in her branch perch to make sure her boot was out of Link's way. 

                                "Did you also chase lame cats in the alleys when no one was looking?" She grinned and purposefully dangled her foot in tempting reach of Link's grasp.

                                "No, but I could get a pack of dogs to follow me without so much as strip of bacon," Link grabbed her boot suddenly with hero-fast reflexes and yanked harder than he meant to. Loraefin lost her place in the tree branches and came sliding rather ungracefully down; legs sprawled over Link's own legs. She was to stunned for a moment to say anything but regained her senses quickly when Link burst out laughing. She took a big fistful of leaves and twigs and threw it at him.

                                "Nice one, how about I yank you out of a tree next time?" She couldn't help but smile as Link's laughter died down but she made no effort to untangle one another yet. She did however notice how sorely her rear end was hurting.

                                "Couldn't, you're not strong enough to pull me out of a tree," he didn't try to stand up either, now noticing how warm she was keeping his legs in the chilling air. 

                                "Oh I could pull you out of a tree alright Hero," Loraefin grinned and threw another stray leaf at him which clung in his bright golden hair. Link looked over Loraefin's shoulder and saw the Hylian people start to gather around the fires on the nearby bank and sighed.

                                "I have to go," he grumbled, nodding his head over in the direction of the crowd. Loraefin lazily glanced over too and made the effort to get up off her sore arse. She looked over in the other direction where her own people were building a fire to honor their traditions. If the Hylians were so quick to judge, then why waste time with them? Obviously many didn't like her people being there and had tried to alienate them, the half-and-half hybrids of crooks and thieves. If the Hylian people wished to come and join their fire, they would be welcomed with open arms, but her people would not go and join theirs. Link stood up and stretched, Navi floating up from his foot and taking her usual vigil flittering above his head.  

                                "I'll be back, I just have to be seen there or else people…" He tried to find the right way to put it so he didn't sound like a complete arrogant bastard. 

                                "I know, I know Hero, go and make your 'appearance', we'll be waiting," Loraefin stretched and gave him a good healthy push in the right direction, "just hurry back and remember that you owe me a dance for pulling me off of my branch!" Link looked back for a moment grinning before nodding and jogging the other way, his featured blotted out by shadow.  Loraefin turned back and started a slow walk back to the campfire. The trees that hung overhead were very thick and gloomy with dark shadows that draped the path. Loraefin started to walk a bit quicker for the darkness made her weary. There was always something about the darkness of shadows that she was never comfortable with. She froze when she heard the crunch of a footstep that was not her own and spun around on legs braced to flee.

                                "It's alright, it's alright," one of the two men tried to sooth her as if she were some kind of wild animal.

                                "Who are you?" She demanded with legs still fasten firmly for flight. Her fists were clenched at her sides, but without a moment's hesitation she could put them to use. The men held up their hands in front of them, showing her they had nothing with them.

                                "We just wanted to talk to you," the second man grinned, exposing his yellow, dirty teeth. "What's a pretty thing like you doing wandering around alone hmm?"

                                "I was just walking back so if you'd excuse me," she turned and quickly began to walk away but the footsteps continued behind her. Again she turned to find them standing there. "Do you need something?" She snapped, irritated and a bit frightened of them. Gerudo blood or no, she had never had dealings with men outside her village and she was weary. The men laughed and one sat back on his haunches and started to make clucking noise with his tongue.

                                "Here kitty, kitty, kitty, we won't hurt you, we just want to pet you," he laughed again and motioned her with his hand, holding it out like he had a piece of fish. Loraefin had had enough and spied a rock about the size of her hand lying by her foot. With one swift movement she had it in her palm and hurled it toward the taunting man. It struck him right across the forehead and knocked him on his arse with a dumbfounded grunt. The other man laugh as his companion scrambled to his feet and called out to Loraefin as she ran back to camp.

                                "Come dog, come! Bad bitch! Sit girl!" And his laughter taunted her all the way back to the fire. She ran in, puffing and gasping for breath. Lycus, who was sitting on a log nearby looked at her curiously.

                                "Something wrong Fin?" He inquired with raised brow. Loraefin took a large glass of water from the flask and gulped it greedily down.

                                "No, nothing, just some cat calls from the locals. It's okay," she stood in front of him and cocked her head to the side. 

                                "Are you sure? Something you want me to do?" He stared into her eyes, making sure she was not hiding something from him. She grinned and bent to kiss him on the brow 

                                "No, but _kenata," she said and Lycus grinned and caught her by the hand as she walked away._

                                "You tell me if you have any more trouble, okay Loraefin? We have to stick together out here and I don't want anyone bothering you, got it?" His gray eyes matched her own and were filled with concern. Loraefin nodded and he let go of her hand.

AN: Yeah! I'm getting reviews!!! Thank you everyone. I actually have all the rest of this story, and the next one finished (this has been going on for years), and am all the way up to the big Gannon scene in the third, and am stuck again! I've been waiting for years to write that part and I'm stuck!!!! Dang writers block, I have to get back on track…


	7. The Ways of Power

AN: Okay, here is the chapter why it's rated R, just as a warning :P I'm very nervous as to the reception of this chapter, so here goes nothing…

Oh! And to 'just a reader' I really thank you for pointing out those things to me and I *think* I see what you're getting at…I'll try to work on it, and if I keep doing it, tell me again! I'm bound to get it right…hopefully :). Yeah, chapter 6…I think it was really more for me than anything else because I wanted to play with my characters…I think it sets up for chapter 7 too, so maybe my chapter break was just ill-placed? Anyway, I really enjoyed your input and thank you again! Thanks VERY much to everyone else who reviews too!

Chapter Seven: The Ways of Power

                                                Over the shops and crowd drifted sweet, rhythmic music that was not from any of the other bonfires, but farther down the lake. It was fast and light, quick paced to move the feet, airy to lift the spirits, and carefree to entertain the soul. People seemed to bob around looking for the source that was not of their circle, but Link and Navi already knew what it was. The Tulare Dance and Theater Troop had just finished their last performance for the evening and Link was nothing less more than grateful. Oh, how his back hurt from sitting there. King Harkinian leaned over the side of his chair and tapped Link's shoulder to get the hero's attention.

                                "Boring no?" He chuckled as the crowd applauded the dancers off, "lucky for you, you're not the king." His eyes sparkled and Link hoped he meant what he thought he meant.

                                "You don't mind Sir?" Link tried to hide the shear joy in his voice. The King laughed as Link reminded him of a young stag yearning to get free of the snare.

                                "Ah, go on Link, no point in keeping you here anyhow, don't worry, I'll cover for you. I'm the King after all aren't I?" Link smiled and slipped out in between acts.

                                                Quickly and quietly he hurried them down the lakeshore toward the music that had penetrated the evening air. As he and Navi grew near they could make out figures of people dancing wildly and singing, beating drums, playing whistles, and chanting along with the intoxicating rhythm. People clapped, feet pounded, drums beat faster and faster as they approached closer. The bonfire was huge and crackling merrily with a warm glow as the people gathered around, eating, drinking, and celebrating in tradition with their culture. Link spotted Loraefin out of the crowd right away, dancing on the far end of the fire with little Alari and Jack. She looked completely happy, whirling around with the two youngest of the village dancing along beside her. She glanced up and her eyes lit up as she saw him.

                                "Link!" Loraefin yelled and ran up to him, jumping into his arms for she was bursting with energy. "Come and dance with me!" She grabbed his arm without giving him time to protest and swept him off into the circle. The drums pounded faster and faster and the flutes and strings rose and fell whenever it suited them, creating an impulsive and exhilarating beat that pulsated from the soul. Loraefin was loose and perfectly adept with the unpredictable rhythm of the music, swaying her hips and dancing on light feet that gave her an illusion that she never touched the ground. Link watched her in amazement as she danced; having seen it before didn't lessen the enchantment that it was. She faced him and rapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down to her level and grabbed one side of his waist with a free arm to make him move his hips to the beat. For all that he tried Link was still a stiff dancer. 

                                "You need to move with the rhythm Link, move with the rhythm!" She chanted merrily along with the others and arched herself to fit and move better with him, knowing how he would be embarrassed at such a thing. After all, festival dancing was not a shy form. Pressed together as they were Link couldn't help but move with her. "See, that's it Link," she laughed and backed away from him, "you know, for a hero who has countless women who want you, you're awfully shy."

                                "Really? Countless women want me?" Link smirked and grabbed her around the waist, dispelling the illusion of shyness. The music was dizzying and Link felt not like himself at all. The memory of Loraefin on the table at her home, overcome with the _Duvidth and fumbling with his tunic laces surfaced in his mind once again unintentionally. For once he let the image stay present in his mind. "Do you want me?"_

                                "Oh no," she tauntingly cocked an eyebrow, surprised at his playfulness, "you're too…too…you can't dance, no man of mine can't dance." Link flushed red and tried to crack a smile.

                                "I try, and I think I've gotten better," he squeezed her waist tighter with one arm and sent her in a dip that caused her hair to brush the ground. Surprised, she laughed as the blood went rushing back down when she was upright again. "Didn't feel like joining the other fires tonight?" Link knew the answer but wanted to ask it anyway.

                                "Not at all!" Loraefin smoothed out the red ribbons in her hair, still moving to the rhythm of the music. "We're here because…well, we didn't feel welcomed." Her demeanor deflated for an instant but in the next moment she wiped it away. "Have I embarrassed you enough? Should I let you go sit down?" She laughed and let him take his leave and he sat down to watch. He watched Megeara's glossy red hair fly in the firelight as she danced with Zannon, he spoke with Greysir and Re'ale and many others, but mostly he watched Loraefin who had found a partner in the tall and fair Lycus. He hated this feeling. 

                                "You have that look on your face again," Navi popped in from above him, "you're not jealous of Lycus are you? You're looking at him."

                                "What? Where did you get that idea?" Link stammered, taking his eyes off of the dancers and up at her. "Why would I be jealous of Lycus?"

                                "I don't know, you tell me," she chimed in her light and tinkling faery voice. "It's always when he's around Loraefin too, I've been watching you and it's every time. You know they're cousins right?" Link blinked and stared off blankly for a moment.

                                "Cousins?" He gawked in disbelief at this revelation, "how do you know?"

                                "Loraefin told me, why, didn't you know?"

                                "No!"

                                "How could you not know?" Navi was shocked, "It's obvious anyway, I mean, think about it, the third generation in an isolated area? By their generation they would all be related through blood somehow. That's the biggest reason they even agreed to show themselves, they wanted to have children." Link had never thought about it and now wondered why he had not come across it before. Cousins! All of them! And suddenly that secret pang of jealously evaporated into nothing. 

                                                Eventually the music stopped for a moment, giving the players and dancers time to rest. Loraefin went to talk to her parents before taking a seat next to Link and sighing contently. 

                                "Hard work dancing is," she leaned back to stretch, "I think I've celebrated enough for awhile, want a drink?" Loraefin handed him the mug of wine she had been sipping on and he took a swig of the contents. It was sweet and tingled a bit in the back of his throat. Link stifled a cough and handed it back to Loraefin.

                                "Good," Link cleared his throat and smiled foolishly when Loraefin laughed at him.

                                "Yeah, this is a bit stronger than I'm used to too," she took another sip and put the mug down on the ground. They were silent for minutes on end, just watching Loraefin's family talk and eat and drink around them. Link turned to her suddenly, struck with something to say.

                                "I didn't know that you were all cousins," he said and the edges of Loraefin's mouth twitched into a smile.

                                "Yeah, I thought you knew that?"

                                "No, Navi just told me. Though now I feel pretty stupid that I didn't realize it sooner."

                                "Where is Navi?" 

                                "Over by your brother."

                                "Ah."

                                "When do you guys go back to the valley?" He blinked hard, resting his eyes from the light of the flames. 

                                "I guess early tomorrow, I know I wouldn't want to much longer than that, you saw what they did to Joshuan. They touch my brother again and I'll kill them." At this she was most serious and Link didn't doubt that she would take matters into her own hands, though he did doubt murder very highly. 

                                "They touch him again and they'll have to answer to me too, but things will get better," Link smiled sweetly, defusing the tension. Loraefin admired his ability to do that. Link thought he caught a blush rise in Loraefin's cheeks but he could just be mistaking the flush from the fire. She put a hand over his and squeezed it then stood to take her leave for the food and drink had run its course. Link let her go and watched her disappear into the crowd. 

There was something deeper that she was not telling him, he could see it plain on her face. It would be no use trying to get it out of her now, if she had not come right out with it to begin with. Loraefin may have been small woman, but she was stubborn and could dig her heels in when she wanted. That made Link worry all the more because so rarely did she not say what was on her mind. He thought of following her, but shrugged it off considering where she was going.

                                                Loraefin skimmed around the rock walls that made up part of the lake's enclosure trying to find where the latrines had been dug. Considering, they should not have been that hard to find, but she wanted to be very careful where she stepped. In a concave portion of the cliff she groped her way in the dark with only the faint light from the stars and her nose to guide her. 

A pain flashed against the back of her head that sent Loraefin whirling to the ground. She felt her face being shoved hard against the foul dirt of the latrine, the scent filling her nostrils and matting in her hair. Something pinned her violently to the ground and she felt the callused palm gripping her wrists so tightly she thought the person was trying to snap them in two. She bucked up, knocking one man off his balance and cursed at him in Gerudo. With one hand free she bared her nails and scratched him across the face, feeling her nails sink into the unshaven jaw. He yelled and tried to punch her though her Gerudo training saved her, but not from the second blow from the man behind her and his swift, assailing blows. She crashed to the ground in an incoherent daze and the men held her firm. 

  A callused hand was firmly over her mouth so she couldn't scream for help and with all her might she tried to move, but it was useless. She didn't know what was happening; she couldn't even see the faces of her attackers. She was scared. Loraefin's mind reeled and the throbbing from the blow to the back of the head grew stronger and stronger by the minute as she strained again to lift herself. But she kept slipping on the muck of the ground and could not. There was another hard blow to the back that all but knocked the wind out of her tired bruised body. She gasped for breath as the blow made every fiber within her scream for oxygen and Loraefin could not keep the tears from rolling down her cheeks or the sobs stifled against one of the two men's rough hands. 

Loraefin was too tired and beaten to hold on much longer and her vision was blurred with tears and blood from a cut on her head. The men flipped her over and for an instant Loraefin could see the stars glimmering above her in the autumn sky before they were blotted out by the huge, looming figure of the larger man. He reeked of cheap ale and unclean male sweat, as if that was not the only thing unclean on him, and the smell wafted up Loraefin's nostrils making her want to gag._ It was the man she had thrown the stone at, she was sure of it. She felt something grab at her breast, crushing and bruising it with a hard hand. Then there was the terrible pain between her thighs that ripped through her like a blade. Her sobs racked her entire body, but still the pain continued to tear her._

Loraefin clenched her eyes and tried to block out the pain, but it was impossible to ignore the presence inside her_._ The pain in her head seemed to split her in two while the force of him was threatening too. He cursed at her, called her awful names. He took her with only the thought of revenge for insulting him and his satisfaction. And he could use this worthless Gerudo mutt until he would shudder and roll her over to use again. It made sense to him that she should be tumbled in a pit of filth. 

The world started to go black around Loraefin as her conscious was slipping away, but somewhere hovering between the blackness and shame Loraefin felt a sharp sensation in the pit of her stomach, like someone had hollowed out her insides. She felt her belly warming quickly until within seconds it was as if she was on fire from the inside out. _The bonfire, I've become part of the bonfire…_Her mind told her and the image of her family gathered around a huge bonfire came into hazy view. 

As she floated along beside them, unaware of the pain anymore, she noticed that it was not the fire of a festival. She looked to the flames and inside she saw a pyre. _A funeral pyre! Her mind gasped. __A death! There will be a death! Who is it? Why can't I see? Her conscious hovered there and then the fire parted and she saw the face of the body. With a gasp she returned to her body with the image of herself flashing in her mind. _

As the flame grew from red to white in intensity, her skin started to glow with a faint shimmer and sweat poured from every opening in her skin and her hair was drenched within moments. Nausea and fatigue swept over her like a wave so intense she thought for certain that she was going to die right at that moment. _The vision, surely it is to come of this…She shut her eyes tightly and felt the pain grow and grow until she could stand it no longer and every muscle tensed as her body erupted with such terrible heat that both men flew back from her. _

A dome of glassy flames rose around her and Loraefin could hear the sound of the heat rushing over the land and rocks like the sudden gust of wind and time seemed to hold still in that moment. And indeed time did slow for she saw with perfect clarity the bodies of the men thrown back like nothing more than play things. The flames that engulfed her swirled around her like a shield, glittering amber and scarlet before disappearing into nothing from which they came. When they did, time returned to its normal flow and she was paralyzed, unable to move her exhausted muscles. Her dress was smoldering and reeking of smoke, feces, and sweat. The two men lay on the ground about ten feet away unconscious. One was not breathing.

AN: OoOo….something bad happened….maybe that whole scene was your average 'rape' scene *shudders because she does not like the subject* but seeing as that has never happened to _me_, I only have other stories to base it on. I hope it conveyed the kind of emotion and fear for Fin that I was going for…*joking* Hey, 'just a reader' (Do you have a name, by the way :) ? ) was that half a part? Did I improve? :)


	8. Knight in Shining Armor

AN: YEAH!!!! A Rook and Malon chapter!!! As some may have noticed, I enjoy skipping around in my chapters a bit. I like to be able to switch to different events occurring at the same time. I also personally needed something of a lighter mood after the last chapter :) I really like this chapter…but that's probably because I just have fun writing conversations between these two…Anyway, did anyone notice what the fire that happened to Fin resembled? *hint hint* Subtle foreshadowing!!!! *****evil laugh* If you didn't get it, go back and see if you can! It has something to do with Fin's later purpose in the story about all of that 'the One' stuff. Or maybe I'm too subtle…Oh, yeah, I should let you get on with it, no?

Disclaimer: If I owned Link, trust me, I wouldn't be here writing *wink*. I do own…well a lot of these characters, to many to name, but you all know the ones that belong to Nintendo on your own so…Rook, Fin, Joshuan, Meg….etc….all mine with pride.

Chapter Eight: Knight in Shining Armor

            "You make my life a living hell do you know that?!" Malon shouted and puffed out an infuriated growl with her temper flared. "Why am I still talking to you even?!" Rook, the point of focus of this flame haired banshee's ire, just grinned foolishly at her. By the Gods he loved it when she was angry. 

_"Bhy gharra lass, 'tis only a little scrape. I'll be patched up in no time, the boys didna' mean to cosh me in the haid like they did." That may have been the truth, his friend had been to drunk to stumble out into the alley to piss let alone know what he was doing, but Rook was not about to let Malon know that, he himself was not completely sober at the time either. Luckily he had walked away with only a few scratches in his hand and an outstanding bruise on his noggin from the ale mug. It wasn't a big deal to him; just another night out with the boys, but Malon saw it a different way._

_            "Oh what does it matter, you're head is to hard to hurt anyway!" She couldn't stand him grinning at her anymore, made it harder for her to yell at him so she just groaned and threw up her hands with impatience. "When you really get hurt in that filthy bar of yours don't expect me to cry over you!"_

_            "It's na' filthe' Malon," Rook's tone dropped a few octaves. Beautiful woman or not, he was not about to let his pub be insulted. "Maybe if ye'd come in with me---"_

            "I will not set foot in that place! And it's 'if you'd come', not 'if ye'd come'!" Now she knew she was just nitpicking but she was angry with him for making her worry.

            "Yer pushin' it Firefly, don't cross me," Rook found his own temper raising as he pointed a finger accusingly at her. "Yer takin' this scuffle a bit to far, now I told ye it was nuthin' and I want ye te' drop it!" The wooden walls of the Lon Lon Ranch stable absorbed his shout and the air immediately stilled after. Malon's eyes narrowed and she gawked for words.

            "Stop it, you'll scare the horses you oaf! Now get out, I don't want to talk to you anymore right now!" She returned her attention to brushing Eady's coat, only she was much more focused now and Eady stomped uncomfortably as the brush dug against the grain of the hair. Rook, red faced and tempered took a defying few steps toward her and ripped the brush out of her hand.

            "Why does it bother ye so much Malon?" His voice was still hampered with anger, but he was trying considerably to keep it under control. Malon spun around and tried to regain her brush, but Rook caught her by the wrist and enveloped it with his large hand. Malon's eyes sparked flames but Rook's were already a roaring blaze.

            "Because it scares me, that's why!" She yelled and began to shake from the emotional energy that flooded through the now open gate. "Because I'm afraid you'll do something stupid and hurt yourself. Because I'm afraid you'll, you'll!" Tears had begun to flow down her cheeks without her consent or her notice. She sank to the floor and sobbed, the first time she had ever allowed herself to cry since Ganondorf's reign. Rook sunk to his knees too and cradled her in his arms.

            "Malon," he soothed, his anger completely dissolved and replaced with a deep sense of compassion. "Malon, my sweet Malon I---"

            "And," she sobbed, "and I'm afraid you'll become like my Uncle Ingo!" Her body quaked and all Rook could do was hold her closer. 

                        "What's this 'bout Ingo now?" He asked, stroking her hair, "how would I be like him? What he do love?" He lifted her eyes to meet his and had never wanted her more than when he stared into the blue, vibrant against the tears.

            "He, he would beat me," she whispered, afraid to say out loud what she had always kept inside. "When he would get drunk, after Ganondorf had given him the Ranch. He would never remember the next day he was so drunk…I," her voice cracked and she wiped one cheek with the back of her hand. She remembered all of those fearful nights when he would stumble out into the stable where she stayed to protect the horses, piss ass drunk and shouting slanderous names at her, calling her slut and whore and if every other man got it why couldn't he? She would shout back at him and made sure to stay well out of his reach, keeping the pitchfork within grasping range should she need it. But she never did, he would pass out or saunter off before then, leaving Malon shaken and alone. Always alone accept for the company of the horses. She knew if she didn't have them she surely would have harmed herself, but they gave her a reason to carry on. Malon sniffled and relaxed and closed her eyes, "I've never mentioned it because I know it wasn't him, not really, it was Ganondorf, he poisoned his mind, blackmailed him, but…but Rook I don't want you to become like that! I'm, I'm afraid when you get drunk." She sat back on the floor and let the shudders run out of her until she was calm again. Rook moved closer and twined his fingers in her soft hair.

            "Naver, naver would I hurt ye Malon, I'd be struck dead before I let harm come to ye," he leaned in and brushed her lips who were salty with tears with his. "I love ye Malon, always have. I want to marry ye, if ya'd have me." She blinked and stared at him with his heart set clean in front of her and felt her own heart beating wildly in her chest. For Rook the moment lasted for an eternity. He had never given his heart to anyone before but he would give it to none other than Malon. If she did not take it he would not know what to do. But she did.

            "Is that a proposal then?" She sat frozen with her heart bared before him. He leaned in again and kissed her passionately, something his lips had been aching to do since the first moment he saw her.

            "Marry me Malon," he grinned against her mouth, kissing her lightly again. 

            "That's not a proposal, that's an order," she smiled and kissed him back, lifting a hand to cup his face.

            "I told ye I'd have ye when it suited me, and it suites me now," he pulled her to her knees so they were both kneeling on the stable floor. His face had lost all humor and color now and was very grave. "I, I have nothing to give ye Malon but myself, I'm not a rich man, nor a particularly bright one…no knight in shining armor, but I'll use everything to make ye happy, I swear by it, only say yes." He dug into his pocket and brought out the smooth hair clasp he had bought for her at the Bazaar. Malon's heart lurched at the site of it and swelled with an overpowering emotion that she only had enough sense left to utter one thing: yes. 


	9. Helpless to Heal

AN: Yeah, back to the 'main' story now. I know, I know, I like detours.

Chapter Nine: Helpless to Heal

When they found her it all became even more of a blur to her. Someone was leaning over her trying to get some sign of life and as her eyes started to focus she could make out Take's blurry image wrought with concern. Her body was burning with the fever that had burst from her in the last moment of consciousness and Take almost dropped her hand when he took it. And still there was the toxic odor of the foul matter she lay in. Her mother was weeping, men were shouting, she was frightened… Loraefin moaned and flexed her fingers but was incapable of anything beyond that. Had she had a relapse of the _Duvidth_? No, she remembered now, she remembered what had happened…Joshuan was angry, so was Link, whose presence she could feel around her. She also heard someone begging far away, but it all seemed to close to the dream world for her to distinguish. 'This one's dead!' she heard someone shout and then the scrape of metal being drawn. 

There was the vague sensation of being lifted and carried away, but she felt so heavy she couldn't see how anyone could lift her. When she woke again she was bouncing along nestled in between her mother and Kantherine in the back of a cart, wrapped tightly in a warm blanket, the mud and filth still matted in her hair. The sky was still dark and as she gained more and more senses she could see and hear her entire family about her with the gravest voices and expressions she had ever known them to have. Loraefin's mother cradled her in her arms and wept over her daughter, but all Loraefin was, was confused.

                                Her body was weak for days after and she would see no one but her mother. She didn't want anyone to see her. _The fire, the fire with my face on the body…_Lindie tended to her every need which were few for she would not set a foot out of bed for those first few days. For five days Loraefin spoke virtually nothing, ate too little to build up her strength, and felt so hollow inside that it nearly drove her mad. She couldn't sleep for when she did he would be there, a dark, looming figure on the edge of every dream that would send her bolt upright in bed in a heavy sweat. 

Her innocents had been taken from her; she was spoiled, used goods, unclean. It had all happened so fast, just too fast for her to cope. She was afraid, terrified and confused. She thought she had been stronger than that, she thought that completing the Ground would have protected her from such things, but she was wrong. She would not be wrong again. Her Grandmother Usa determined that she was not with child, but Loraefin could have told her that, knowing the aching emptiness inside would keep any life from taking root within her womb. Nevertheless, she was relieved to see her courses come once again. 

When she did gather the strength to part with the safety of her bed, Loraefin stumbled down the stairs on weak legs and across the long walk to the front door. Every step took a great amount of strength that she didn't feel she had. Everyone in the village was surprised and overjoyed to see her up and about, but knew enough to keep their distance yet. The younger children had been told she had come down with a cold, as the truth was too much for even the adults to say. Even her father kept his bit of distance from his daughter. Ever since that night, his little girl had shrunken from him whenever he came near. He knew it was not intentional, but he was a man and after her ordeal he did not blame her. Greysir only hoped that things would change in time, so did the other men in her life that loved her.

                                Day by day Loraefin grew stronger and her spirits seemed to lighten, but despite, her insides were still a bundle of confused thoughts. On the eighth day Link came to see her again, having come two times before and been turned away. When he came in he tried to smile, but Loraefin's sad, solemn eyes wiped any happy image he could conjure up. She was sitting at the stables with her grandmother Usa, an averaged height Gerudo woman with faded red hair, and Lindie's mother. Link came in through the open door and the trampled down hay and soft dirt masked the sounds of his footsteps. 

Link wanted to speak with her alone, but Usa would not leave them and Loraefin did nothing to help so Link stood awkwardly some distance from her while Usa continued to separate clumps of wool for her loom. Link stepped closer and kneeled at Loraefin's feet, watching her eyes, watching her body tense ever so slightly as he came near. 

His heart ached as he could feel her drawing away from him and he asked himself _what horrible person could do this to my Loraefin? But he did know he was there when they found her crumpled and bleeding on the ground with her attackers no more than a few feet away unconscious and badly burnt from what he didn't know, but didn't care about at he time. He stayed at her feet and did not move and eventually he roused a little smile out of her. It was a weak smile, but it was the most beautiful thing Link could remember seeing in the past weeks since the Fall Bazaar. _

                "There's my girl," Link grinned, trying to make Loraefin's own smile bigger, "now how about a laugh for me?" Loraefin kept her timid smile but nothing more and he sighed knowing his defeat. "How are you feeling?"

                "Better," her voice was still heavy with the herb potions her grandmother's had given her to help her sleep.

                "Are you sleeping better? Last time I came to see you you're mother said you were having a hard time," he could feel his breath tremble in his throat as he looked at her, dark and closed off to him when everything used to be so open between them. Now there was an enormous wall built around her and if only he had been there he could have saved her from this. It hadn't been long before when he was checking up on her in this way, after she had finished the Ground and barely came out alive. Why did she play with his emotions that way?

                "I slept through last night well enough, the Dalucody helps me sleep," she sat rigidly on the bench in an old worn dress Link had seen her wear many times before. Her family already had burned the burgundy dress from that night, destroying it completely. Link remembered it on her last, torn to reveal her bare chest and the bruises caked in mud and squalor with blood oozing from open wounds. The filth of the latrines was caked in her wild hair and was smeared all over her in the struggle. The smell had hit him first, before he even saw her, then the sight nearly brought him to his knees. They were silent for a long time until Link's breath caught in his throat and he bent his head to rest on her knees. Link felt her tense at his touch but he couldn't help what he did.

                "By the Goddesses Fin, I should have been there, I should have been there!" He let out a sob and let his feelings of remorse wash over him. "It's all my fault! I'm supposed to protect you! This never should have happened to you! I'm supposed to protect you!" As he knelt at her foot letting the stifled, heavy sobs rack through him Loraefin looked helplessly at her grandmother. Usa got up and made to help Link to his feet but Loraefin waved her away. 

She never thought she'd be comfortable with a man's touch again, but Link was so tender and weeping before her she could not turn him away. And he was her friend. She lifted her hand hesitantly at first, fingers trembling like the young man at her feet, and slowly she ran her hand through his soft hair. Link, feeling her small hands brush over his scalp, feeling her energy flowing through into him, lifted his arms wrapped them around her, hugging her waist and burying his face in her lap. 

                "Link, it's okay," Loraefin whispered stroking his head like he was a small child. "Link, how could you have known? It is not your fault." _But I needed someone and no one was there. She tried to lift his head so she could look at him, but he wouldn't lift it, he wouldn't let her see his tears._

                "Oh, Fin," he moaned, "Fin, forgive me… I can't forgive myself." His strong arms were heavy around her and she could feel the lean muscle through the layers of fabric, capable of breaking every bone in her body if he wished. Loraefin was so taken aback that she could only stare at him for a moment. She had never seen him so tender, so caring, it was as if he was trying to make up for a great wrong he had done her, but her rape was not of his doing. 

                "There is nothing to forgive Link, it wasn't your fault," she began.

                "Please Fin!" Link choked, face buried above her knees, "please, just say you forgive me!"

                                Loraefin held her tongue at first as Link knelt with lowered head at her feet. When she found her voice again it was weak and deafly soft.

                "I forgive you Link," she whispered and with that he nodded his head and stood. Link leaned forward, kissed her quickly on the cheek in good-bye, and fled from the stable. As he brushed past the door Lycus came in, but Link was gone before he could speak. Lycus saw the look on Loraefin and Usa's face and looked back at Link who was hurrying away. 

                "Did I miss something?" He asked. Loraefin could feel the tears welling up in her eyes, but she had sworn to herself that she would never cry over the attack again and she would keep her vow. She shrugged her shoulders and kept silent, but Lycus could tell by the demeanor of her eyes what had happened. In any other situation he would have embraced her to comfort her, but Lycus knew she would shrink from him. Judging from Link's hurried departure, he could guess whatever it was that had happened was important. So was the news he brought with him from the village. Tiamra, the leader of the Gerudo, had come to pay a visit.


	10. Good Night, My Daughter

AN: I love the Gerudo, if that's not obvious :)

Chapter Ten: Good Night, My Daughter

            "What does she want?" Usa snapped, tearing another clump of wool apart from the pile.

            "She's here to see Fin," Lycus replied, "accept she called you 'Rae Lawen' for some reason. Do you know what she meant by that?" Loraefin knew if Tiamra had spoken of her using her Gerudo name, the purpose of her visit must be of some interest indeed. Usa left her work and accompanied the two back to Loraefin's house where Lycus said Tiamra and the other Gerudo guards were waiting. Loraefin was still shaken by Link's speech and it made all of the bitter emotions and hollow feeling come swarming back into her, the feelings she had tried so hard to repress. _Fire, my face was in the fire…Lycus watched her with a weary eye as they walked. Whatever Link had done had shaken his poor cousin to her very core._

            "Link sure left in a hurry, I didn't get to ask him how he was," Lycus stepped around the conversation very carefully, afraid that Loraefin would recoil and fall into silence.

            "He had to go," Loraefin mumbled and hugged her arms tighter around her in the breeze. Lycus nodded and watched Usa walk ahead of them, purposely staying just within earshot. Loraefin stopped as the wind sent another cold shiver up her spine, but she already felt she could never feel warm again. "He wanted me to forgive him…I didn't want to at first, but it wasn't his fault…" _If I did not die of my attack, what was it that the vision showed me? She sighed shakily, but no sign of tears appeared in her eyes. Lycus knew she remembered so little about what happened after her attack, he did not doubt she did not know what Link had done when they found her. He stepped closer and Loraefin still stood rigid and cold despite the soft, gentle look of her eyes that was never lost._

            "You don't remember what happened afterwards do you?" He said softly, his eyes staring directly into her own.

"No, I've told you that," Loraefin hissed irritated. She had felt too close to death to remember much of anything that happened, only the pain, and only the heat that enveloped her. _A pyre! A funeral pyre with my body! Lycus shrugged and brushed the ruddy red hair the wind had blown out of his eyes._

            "Then you don't remember how Link was when he saw you," Lycus pinched his lips and crossed his arms defensively too. "He was as angry that night as the rest of us Fin, there was fire in his eyes that I didn't know someone as patient as he could have," he was cut off by Usa, bristled like a protective she-cat over her kitten.

"Enough Lycus!" She snapped, "she doesn't need to hear this!"

"I think she does," he turned to face her and Loraefin had not heard the tone of voice he used before. He sounded no longer like the boy she had known; he sounded like for the first time the man he had grown to be. Usa angrily gave into him because she knew her grandchild would have to learn of that night, but she wasn't sure she was ready yet.  Lycus turned back to Loraefin who was standing thin-lipped and firm behind him. "He was so angry that night Fin, he practically flew to your side while the rest of us were still in shock. You were," Lycus shut his eyes tightly and tried to forget the image, "you were so pale. Fin I can't put into words the panic I felt, the fear, the anger, so I can imagine Link felt the same." The blood and scent of scorched flesh and feces couldn't be pushed from his mind. Loraefin's soft gray stare brought tears to Lycus's eyes, knowing how close he had come to loosing them. "Link was the one who helped me hold the man who raped you up when your father slit his throat. Actually, he was the one who pulled his head back to give Greysir a clear target." 

            Loraefin stood stock still, the expression frozen on her face. Her bottom lip trembled slightly; she had never guessed what her father and cousins were capable of that night, or Link. Least of all she could picture Link doing such things, and he had done those things for her. She didn't give Lycus a response but walked faster toward her house with Usa beside her. When they came in the front door Loraefin saw Tiamra standing in front of the fire with several other Gerudo guards and Pameia and Mattue as well. She was as strong and commanding as Loraefin remembered her and her power emanated throughout the room. Tiamra nodded as they entered and waited for Loraefin to come to her.

"Rae Lawen," she said calmly, eyes flickering over the girl, "I've heard about your misfortune, I was sorry to hear it." Loraefin's jaw tightened and her fists clenched. _I am not so happy about it either thought Loraefin grimly._

"What do you want Tiamra?" Usa grumbled as she sat haughtily down on a wooden chair nearby. "What business do you have with our Loraefin?" Tiamra smiled and sauntered to the girl who was standing stone silent in the middle of the room.

"Where is your crest Rae Lawen? Why do you not wear it?" 

"Tiamra," the young woman of nineteen years spoke with a lowered voice, trying to find the right mix of respect and self-confidence in words. "We are," she gulped, "honored by your visit, but why have you come to call on us?" Tiamra raised her eyebrows in surprise but did not lose the smile in her eyes though it had disappeared from her lips.

"Well if you are so quick to know, I've come to give you an offer," she replied simply and folded her arms. _Ah, the girl is just as I thought she would be…what I have to offer her is all the more greater then!_

"No Tiamra! No offers, no deals, whatever you've come for we'll not be taking it!" Re'ale snapped, "we'll not be having anymore to do with the outside! Not after what they did to our Loraefin!"

"Re'ale, hush!" Pamiea stepped in, cutting Re'ale off. Reluctantly Pamiea bowed her head for Tiamra to continue. Whatever she was to offer Loraefin at least had the right to hear it. Tiamra nodded back and turned once again to Loraefin who had not budged yet. The silver and amber crest she wore glistened in the firelight as did her cropped red hair that was not so much as tousled by the wind and ride. She had not even gotten so far as to remove her riding cloak for she expected a speedy departure.

"I can help you with the pain you know," Tiamra began slowly, circling the young woman, "if you come with us, finish your training that you left unfinished since the Ground." Loraefin stared at her and her lips parted in amazement. Usa was about to lift herself out of her chair in protest, but Greysir's firm hands held her in place. He was strong and silent throughout the entire thing, if there was any chance to relieve his daughter's pain he would not speak one word against it, even if that did mean her leaving them again. "There is a rite that can help, but I only offer it if you come with us." 

"Oh, damn you Tiamra!" Usa shouted, "I should have known you'd have come only for your own good! How dare you patronize my grandchild with your hollow promises!" 

"My promise is far from hollow!" Tiamra snapped back with eyes ablaze. "Rae Lawen has potential! Don't you want your grandchild to know the power of the Goddesses and Their strength? I only offer this to her for _her benefit!" _

            Loraefin didn't say a word during the entire argument. Instead she sat down in between her father and Joshuan and thought very seriously to what Tiamra offered her. If she went she thought, she could help bridge the gap between their two people. But the next moment she shoved that idea away and knew if she was to do this, she was doing this only for herself. Damn everyone else. She questioned it, denied it, and considered it all in the same moment. She knew it felt right. In a calm manner, she took both her father's and brother's hand and squeezed it reassuringly. It was the first time she had touched them since that night and Greysir and Joshuan felt the weight of her decision before she even spoke it aloud. 

            They rode out that evening after Loraefin was able to gather the few things she needed and make her good-byes to her family. This would be one journey she made without them. She gave each of her dogs a good rub behind the ears too before she mounted Balius and rode quietly off, unknowingly with Laelaps tagging along at Balius's hooves. Laelaps would not let her pack sister go unprotected and no amount of commands would tell her otherwise. Loraefin would be grateful for their company in the month's ahead while she was apart from her family. As they rode out across the field, a small tremor shook the ground, small enough to give the horses a start. Loraefin pulled her cloak tighter around her as a deep pang of worry struck her core. She shivered, but not from cold. Something was coming.

AN: More of my foreshadowing!!!!! *laughs maniacally until someone smacks her* And that concludes **this** story…I'll put the next one up soon, The Half Moon where Fin goes back with the Gerudo and there's more about the Sages…but I think I may have to start pacing myself with these updates…I'll run out of chapter surplus soon and I'm still on my writers block!


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